Delcohoops.com

By Matthew De George

When Dave McFadden talked to his Strath Haven players for the first time late last spring, he wasted no time addressing the elephant in the room.

“Coach from the minute he came in said, I know what y’all did last year; we’re going to leave that in the past and start fresh right here,” point guard Jahmeir Springfield said Tuesday. “That’s one thing he emphasized.”

So in that spirit, let’s get the background out of the way quickly: McFadden’s first head coaching job was to take over a team that went 3-19 last season, 5-39 over the past two under coach Tom Dougherty. They endured a 19-game losing streak in the Central League around a winless league slate in 2013-14.

That history, no matter how maddening, was just that. There was no changing it, McFadden told his group. The only alternative was to prevent history from repeating itself.

One win at a time, McFadden’s bunch has suppressed any hint that this is substantially the same group that endured last year’s pains. That path leads them to Friday’s first-round District One Class AAAA contest in which No. 25 seed Hatboro-Horsham visits the No. 8 Panthers.

Webmaster’s note: If you can’t make the game, you can listen to it LIVE right here on Delcohoops.com.  Go to the broadcast by using the link on the left side of this page!

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By Matthew De George

Separated by about as far geographically as you can be in District One, devotees of Chester basketball are no stranger to Council Rock North.

The last time they met in the playoffs was 2011, in a district final won by the Clippers. That was a rematch of the 2003 final claimed the Chester, and the squads also met in the second round of 2010.

The stakes will be a little different Friday night, when No. 9 seed Chester (16-6) hosts the No. 24 Indians.

Don’t let the seed fool you: Chester is one of the hottest teams in the field, having won 13 of 14. It hardly resembles the squad that stumbled through December at 2-5.

Lately, that’s included weathering the loss of Marquis Collins with a shoulder injury and Jordan Camper with a hand issue. The absence of those two starters has elicited the best from the supporting cast.

That begins with Khaleeq Campbell, who has assumed a larger scoring role with the former leading scorer Collins out. For the season, the pass-first point guard is averaging 10.9 points per game, but he’s upped that to 19.8 in the four contests Collins has missed.

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By Matthew De George

Garnet Valley’s Carl Tienabeso, left, will have a big defensive test in districts against Downingtown West Friday. (Times File)

By way of praise, Mike Brown is quick to admit his team’s, um, shortcomings.

It’s an obvious point of pride for Brown that his Garnet Valley team compiled a 14-8 record and qualified for the District One Class AAAA Tournament for the first time in the school’s Central League epoch, snapping an eight year drought.

But even more gratifying is how the Jaguars earned Friday’s trip to No. 3 seed Downingtown West (21-3), against some tall odds.

“You’d be hard-pressed to find a smaller team physically in the area,” Brown said Sunday. “But we’re a very tough team. Looks can be deceiving.”

That toughness will be required in spades Friday.

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By Matthew De George

Two years ago, as Central League and Del Val champs, respectively, Lower Merion and Penn Wood were fated to the lousy draw of a second-round tilt. Lower Merion, as the eight seed, won that one, 58-43, and went to states. No. 9 Penn Wood bowed out in playbacks.

In the present, with neither side having the kind of season it’s become accustomed to, a rematch in the first round of the Class AAAA tournament Friday night seems fitting for two of the titans of District One.

No. 22 Penn Wood (12-10) takes the trip to Lower Merion, a daunting ambience even if the team that calls it home hasn’t been as consistent a force as in recent years.

Lower Merion’s 15-7 record is impressive. Their nonleague track record, whipping York and JP McCaskey, fosters hope in the even they get to states. But they limp into the postseason, losers of four of seven. That late free-fall, which included a 54-44 setback to Haverford Jan. 30, excluded them from the Central League tournament, consigning them to fourth.

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By Matthew De George

Whatever verdict the seeding formula spit out last Sunday, it was going to be hard-pressed to intimidate Penncrest.

After all, the Lions last season took the No. 28 seed in the District One Class AAAA Tournament, snaked through two overtime games, daunting road environs like Penn Wood and Lower Merion, and made their way to states.

So drawing the No. 21 seed and a date with No. 12 Spring-Ford this season may not seem too daunting. Few pieces from this year’s team experienced that run first-hand – Tyler Norwood scored seven points in the first-round win over Penn Wood, 56-53, in OT, but that was the most significant contribution.

That adversity sits at the heart of the postseason phase of the Lions’ season is perhaps no surprise. The last month has been an adjustment since losing leading scorer AJ Taylor to a finger injury Jan. 16 vs. Ridley (a game where the Green Raiders’ needed a last-second 3-pointer to eke out a 30-27 win).

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By Matthew De George

On paper, the math seems simple.

Ridley has won 11 games in a row on the way to the Central League regular-season and tournament championships. North Penn has won 11 games all season and narrowly snuck into the playoffs.

So when the No. 4 and No. 29 seeds collide Friday night in the first round of the District One Class AAAA Tournament, the script seems clear-cut. But the added wrinkle comes with Knights’ hot form.

North Penn has won five of seven, resuscitating a season that stood at six wins as Ridley was climbing into the teens. It took a victory over Hatboro-Horsham last time out, powered by 10 3-pointers, to get the Knights sufficient bonus points to make the field. Somehow – and the logic escapes me – North Penn finished sixth in an eight-team Suburban One Continental (that’s a division, not a conference), yet still made the playoffs.

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